


Elysium is a Place on Earth

by Alexandria (heartfullofelves)



Category: Xena: Warrior Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe - San Junipero, F/F, Headcanon, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-07 10:47:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 611
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8797885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria
Summary: It begins when Xena is crucified by Caesar on the beach.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this on Tumblr as a headcanon but it was so long I thought I might as well post it here. It's written in headcanon style rather than a fic, so it's something a little different for me.
> 
> I hadn’t seen any San Junipero AUs for this fandom. So imagine. First, there’s a genre change from sci-fi to fantasy, so instead of science and technology you have god magic...

It begins when Xena is crucified by Caesar on the beach. Xena is dying on the cross when she gets transported to a strange place called San Junipero which is in a future time. In this other world, which is unlike anything she has ever dreamed of, she meets a past lives counsellor who helps the dead transition into being permanent residents. She learns that in the real world this counsellor is a slave girl called Gabrielle who suffers terrible abuse every day.

Time passes differently in this world than it does in Xena’s reality, and she and Gabrielle become close - friends, and maybe a hint of something else - as they escape their physical burdens.

Eventually, however, Xena knows she must die, and when she returns to the real world, Ares appears to her. He presents her with a choice: to die for good, or stay in San Junipero permanently; this world in which she is free of pain; this world that is hers to explore.

It’s not a difficult choice.

So, upon the cross, Xena breathes her last and passes into this other world. When she returns to San Junipero, the first thing she does is look for Gabrielle. She doesn’t find her at the bar in the year 2000, which is where they met. She asks the bartender if he’s seen Gabrielle. He hasn’t. He tells her to try another time, maybe the 2010s, so Xena does.

She finds Gabrielle in her counsellor’s office in 2016. Gabrielle, however, is not pleased to see her. “I come here for freedom,” says Gabrielle. “Your following me is not freedom.“

Xena, despite her hurting heart, can’t argue. She goes back to 1995, alone, and works out some stuff in her head.

On New Year’s Eve 1999, she finds Gabrielle at the bar. They dance, and then Gabrielle takes Xena back to her place right on the beach. “I only have until midnight,” says Gabrielle.

“It’s okay,” replies Xena, touching Gabrielle’s hand. The best parts of New Year’s Eve are over. Once Gabrielle leaves, she’ll just sleep anyway.

When they next meet, Gabrielle tells her that this is it, she won’t be coming back to San Junipero. Xena knows about Gabrielle’s fiancé, a young man called Perdicas, and asks if he has anything to do with Gabrielle’s decision. Gabrielle says no, and asks Xena if she knows what it’s like to be a slave

“No,” says Xena. _Of course not._

Gabrielle is planning, in the real world, to run away with Perdicas. She knows it means certain death, but anything is better than her current shadow of an existence. And how can she live on in paradise when her loved ones cannot?

Xena sheds tears over their parting, but cannot change Gabrielle’s mind. She’s just as stubborn as Xena herself.

Without Gabrielle, Xena time hops, wanting to experience everything she can, hoping it will fill the hole in her heart. She doesn’t know how much time has passed when she goes back to 2000. Instead of going straight to the bar, or to the Quagmire, as she usually does, she goes to the beach and feels the wind in her hair and the sand between her toes. She closes her eyes.

A car engine disturbs her peace. Xena turns away from the sea to look, and she grins: it’s Gabrielle. Gabrielle jumps out of the jeep and runs onto the beach. They embrace.

They walk down the beach, Xena’s arm around Gabrielle’s shoulders, and Gabrielle tells Xena that she changed her mind. Xena smiles, thanking the gods for this happy ever after. Because after everything, they deserve to have San Junipero for eternity.


End file.
